


Work In Progress

by amaidenfair



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2019-08-06 15:04:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16389956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amaidenfair/pseuds/amaidenfair
Summary: Yes. I am turning this into an actual fic!Not sure yet exactly what my posting schedule will be like - am aiming for weekly, but my job can be pretty hectic sometimes.Anyway, hope that you enjoy it!Follow me on twitter @amaidenfair





	1. Prologue

He was torn.

 

Deep down part of him knew that she was right, that she was speaking sense. Her words, rasped as they were from her battered and bruised body, reaching and resonating with the strategist in him. It was the only way and they needed to see this plan through until the bitter end, if only just to get them all out alive.

 

But then there was the other part of him. The part that loved this woman deeply. The part of him that felt physically sick at just the thought of her in even the slightest amount of pain. The part that was screaming and revolting at the idea of leaving her in pain and suffering goodness knows what.

 

He looked down at her, saw the fire and determination in her eyes. Eyes that were tinged with a pain they all knew she was desperately trying to hide in order to assuage the guilt of the decision she was urging him to make.

 

“It’s ok.” She whispered, “This is my idea, and right now it is the only one we have that allows us to complete the mission. It’s ok.”

 

“It’s really not though, Felicity.” He replied softly. “It leaves you alone. Hurt. In pain….I cannot do that to you…”

 

“Right now, you have to.” Felicity looked over to where Diggle lay, “he needs it more than I do. And you need him in order finish this plan and see things through. I’m the one who messed up and got caught, I’m the one who is derailing this, I should feel guilty, not you. I am sorry….that…I’m sorry that I….put you i….in this position….again. Oli….Oliver, I’m sorry…”

 

“Hey, hey, sshh.” His hand came up to cup her cheek, as soon as he saw that she was getting worked up and struggling to take a breath with her damaged ribs. “Slow it down, just focus on breathing for me.”

 

She nodded and focused on him as she worked to take slow and steady breaths.

 

“Better?”

 

A soft nod was all he got in reply.

 

“Good. Now listen to me. You did not mess up. Felicity you could never fail me. Ever. I would do anything, endure anything if it meant that you would never get hurt. Anything. Without question. You matter to me. That is why this is so hard. I need to you to be safe.”

 

The quiet intensity in his little speech left her reeling, so that she could not respond. Looking into his eyes she could see that he meant every single word, and she wasn’t quite ready to explore what that meant for them, her default was to deflect with humour. Even now, body broken and bruised on the dank cold floor of their prison cell, she could summon her reserves to inject a little lightness into the conversation.

 

“I’ll be safe here. Really, I will. You use that magic injection to fix Digg, and the two of you go off and do your hero shtick, and I will stay cosy in this lovely cell. With you two gone, I might even take a nap….mmmm.”

 

Oliver did not look overly impressed at her deliberately glib tone, but he did manage to lift the corners of his mouth into a passable smile.

 

“I hate that I have to do this to you, Felicity. It goes against every instinct. And you know John will have something to say about it.”

 

“Well the two of you can yell at me all you want once this mission is over, we have taken down the bad guys, and I get those magic aspirins of Digg’s.”

 

“Felicity……”

 

“Oliver. We need to stick to the plan. It’s ok. I will be ok.”

 

Again, he looked deep into her eyes, she could see him warring with himself, trying desperately to come up with another plan, another way. Eventually though he sighed deeply and reluctantly nodded.

 

“Ok….” He whispered. “We do this your way. But you keep a comm with you. That is non-negotiable.”

 

“Alright. I can agree to that.”

 

“I still don’t like this.”

 

“I know, Oliver, I know….I’ll be fine.”

 

He took his hand from her cheek and slid it down her uninjured right arm, giving her hand one last desperate squeeze before turning away and pulling the small vial of serum from the hidden pocket in his jeans, and making his way over to Digg.

 

With one last look, almost as if to check that she was 100% certain, he uncapped the vial and poured the tiny amount of Star Labs miracle cure into Digg’s mouth.

 

Felicity nodded and then, as if making sure Oliver saw this decision through was the only thing keeping her conscious, she awkwardly shifted to try and make herself more comfortable before succumbing to the oblivion of sleep.


	2. Chapter 1

**_A few weeks earlier. Star City. The Foundry…_ **

 

They say that life is full of moments of impact that have rippling effects far beyond what we can predict…

 

“Am I quoting ‘The Vow’ to myself?!” Felicity Smoak wondered out loud, “Really? That is what my life has become?! Spending my Friday night sat in an underground basement, quoting a sappy movie, whilst waiting for McBroody and McBroodier to bring me intel?!”

 

“My money is on Oliver being McBroodier…” came another voice

 

“Digg! You scared the living daylights out of me. Don’t you know its rude to sneak up on

unsuspecting IT girls when they are monologuing to the ether!”

 

Digg simply grinned in reply as he walked over to her desk.

 

“Don’t you grin at me mister! I am seriously considering making both you and Oliver wear bells…”

 

“You need to be…” Diggle started

 

“And before you say it is all part of my training, or something along those lines. The Arrow cave is secure, and only those with the codes can get in.”

 

“…more aware of your surroundings.” Digg finished as if Felicity had not spoken.

 

“Eugh. For that, you are now McBroodier!” Felicity pouted. “Anyhow…what did you bring me?”

 

“There is definitely something going on down there. Increased security – mercenaries from the looks of them – lots of movement….”

 

“But….” Felicity injected as Digg trailed off.

 

“No ships are docked, and from what we can see there is nothing waiting to come in.”

 

“Manifests also have nothing down to dock in the next week or so either.” Felicity gestured to her computer screens. “So why the increase in activity now? It doesn’t make any sense.”

 

“We overheard two of the mercenaries talking whilst we were down there, too far away to make out exactly what they were saying, but it sounded like they were speaking Russian.”

 

“So, let me guess.” Felicity’s expression showed exactly what she thought of Digg’s statement. “Oliver is running down some old friends to check on that.”

 

“Yup.”

 

Felicity turned back to her screens, mind whirring about possible routes of investigation now that there was this potential link. She could start some searches whilst they waited for Oliver to come back from his additional recon mission.

 

* * *

 

To say Oliver was frustrated would be putting it mildly.

 

He turned his bike back in the direction of the Foundry, the last couple of hours watching the main base of the Star City chapter of the Bratva had proven fruitless.

 

Something was going on in his city. He just didn’t know what. And the more dead ends they hit the more frustrated he was becoming.

 

There wasn’t anything he could put his finger on. There was no real starting point for this something. It was a feeling, generated by instinct and a slight uptick the rumblings and criminal activity taking place across Star City.

 

But without any hard evidence, without any evidence or leads to track down all they had to go on was guesswork and gut feeling, and it was leading to nothing.

 

Slowly canvassing the city, he and his team had worked methodically, staking out area after area of criminal activity. Tonight was no different. He and Digg had spent several hours observing the docks, noting the increase in activity; the extra men all armed to the teeth stalking up and down the slipways.

 

Overhearing two of the mercenaries talking in Russian had been a stroke of luck, tempered by the fact that they were too far away to properly make out what was being said. It was something at least.

 

Unfortunately, there was no activity at the garage that acted as a front for the Star City Bratva. If they were planning something, they were not doing it from their normal hub.

 

All of which lead to a very frustrated vigilante heading back to his own base of operations.

 

* * *

  

“No activity at the garage. If the Bratva are involved in this, they are being very quiet about it.” Oliver called out as he strode back into the Foundry.

 

“Back to square one then?” John leant on the medical table as Oliver put away his bow and hung up his green leather jacket.

 

“Looks like it.”

 

“This is starting to feel like something of a wild goose chase.” Felicity said, “I do not doubt that there is something going on, but all we have to go on is your gut instinct. Don’t get me wrong, your gut is a good gut, and if you say there is something hinky about this, then there is something hinky about this, but short of going back to the docks and bringing one of the supposed bad guys in for a not so friendly chat, what else are we supposed to do?”

 

She was met with shrugs in return.

 

“I have searches set up on the high-ranking members of the Bratva here; monitoring their bank accounts, phone records, anything I can basically. If they are involved somehow then maybe I can find them out that way.”

 

“What about if it isn’t Bratva involvement? What if they were just some Russian mercenaries for hire that don’t have a connection to the Bratva?”

 

Digg looked over at Oliver when he got no response.

 

“Oliver?”

 

“Hmm? Sorry Digg, I am stuck on the fact that Felicity thinks I have a good gut….”

 

“That’s what you got from that?!” Felicity blushed.

 

He grinned and shrugged his shoulders in response.

 

Felicity turned back to her computers trying to hide the fact that she was blushing even more.

 

This had been happening more and more recently – small comments, teasing, and a general thawing of the tension that had lingered since the fallout of their failed date. If Felicity did not know any better, she would say that he was flirting with her.

 

“If they are mercenaries then we are even more back to square one.” Oliver brought the conversation back on track.

 

All three of them shared a look, feeling like they were going around in circles.

 

“There’s nothing more we can do from here now. So how about we call it a night and take a fresh look at this tomorrow?”

 

“Digg’s right. Go home. Get some rest.” Oliver agreed.

 

Felicity nodded and set a couple of alerts on her computer that would ping to her phone if anything came up before shutting off the screens for the night.

 

If there was a link out there, if there was something that would enable them to work out exactly what was going on in their city, then Team Arrow would find it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes. I am turning this into an actual fic!
> 
> Not sure yet exactly what my posting schedule will be like - am aiming for weekly, but my job can be pretty hectic sometimes.
> 
> Anyway, hope that you enjoy it!
> 
> Follow me on twitter @amaidenfair

**Author's Note:**

> So that happened....
> 
> It's a little excerpt, debating whether or not to expand it into a full blown multi chapter.
> 
> Might be open to potentially teaming up with someone on this.....I have a couple story ideas floating around in my head right now.


End file.
